Staked
by ilovetvalot
Summary: Post-ep for "Lauren". Emily's thoughts as she lies on the warehouse floor...Derek is present, but it is primarily Emily's thoughts.


_**Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who has been patiently waiting for our stories to be posted. We appreciate your support and apologize for any delays. Real life, however, has taken precedence! We always want to be able to provide you with quality stories and chapters, so our postings may be a bit sporadic over the next month.**_

_**Please...check out our new forum topic: A Fanfic Glossary! We want to know if you guys find it helpful and our topic thread "Our Stance on the 2010 Criminal Minds Fanfic Awards". We have also opened a Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior thread where you may discuss the show (respectfully, of course). We also have a forum announcing our fellow author's (Kathi1C) new IheartCriminalMinds blog. You can ask her questions and get directions on going to her site. We also have SEVERAL NEW THREADS on our forum. Please check them out. We'll also have our "April Fools" challenge up shortly! AND...we've opened a thread to discuss the episode "Lauren" on the forum. Please stop by and check us out.**_

_**As always, we do not own Criminal Minds or any of the characters that we so enjoy writing. If we did own them, we would have never had JJ leave!**_

_**And please, swing by my profile page and take my latest poll. I'm thinking of revisiting some of my older stories and would like your opinion. You guys mean the world to us!**_

_**This is my first post - ep for "Lauren". I hope you like it. Several more are coming! **_

_**Let me know what ya'll think!**_

* * *

**Staked**

So this is what a vampire felt like when he got staked, Emily Prentiss thought darkly as she felt Ian shove the wood just a little deeper into her soft belly. Damn, was that maniacal glee she saw shining in his malevolent eyes?

As far as ways to go went, this one really sucked. No pun intended, of course, she told herself as she attempted to control her suddenly rapidly breathing. This so was not the time for jokes…even the really tacky ones she was so good at delivering.

Turning her head slightly as she felt Doyle dip his head to whisper against her ear, she grimaced. What was he saying? _Where's Declan?_

Like she'd ever tell him that! She'd sworn she'd take that secret to her grave, and, if appearances were to be believed, that was exactly what was going to happen. "No," she breathed, her energy rapidly diminishing as she barely heard someone frantically calling her name. "I'll die before I tell you, Ian. You know that." God, she wished he'd blow his rancid breath elsewhere. If she was leaving earth soon, she'd prefer to take a better memory with her to the hereafter.

Sauerkraut…he'd always tasted like kraut. For an Irishmen, he really had always liked a mixed cuisine. And they all, no matter what version he had chosen, had left him with horrible breath. Funny, the small things you forget. Of course, she had never dreamed of being this damned close to him again.

Glaring down at the woman he'd once loved, Ian glared. "This isn't finished between us, Lauren," he growled menacingly. "Not by a long shot, lass."

Glancing down at the stake protruding from her stomach, Emily tried to laugh. "Oh, I'd say it is, Ian." But she was talking to herself, no one to hear her words. The bastard had already disappeared. Fucking damned Houdini, she thought bitterly as her fingers tried to wrap around the wood.

Closing her eyes, she heard someone call her name again. Too tired to open her eyes, she wished whoever it was would take it down a decibel or two. Even vampires got to disintegrate in peace, didn't they? Didn't they just dissolve into nothingness? That sounded really nice right about now.

Hadn't she earned that simple little pleasure in life?

Blinking her eyes open as she heard the doors bounce off the wall, she winced. Morgan. She should have figured…a door had just gotten kicked in, hadn't it?

"Prentiss!" he bellowed, his tone frantic as he drew nearer.

Yep, it was her. Or at least a portion of her. Hell, she wasn't even sure who she was anymore. Lauren? Emily? What did it matter anymore? Well, other than she was someone lying in a puddle of blood. Oh, God, please let it be blood, she prayed. The idea that she could humiliate herself any further and still be conscious was unbearable.

"Emily, hang on," he heard Morgan order her as her eyes fluttered shut again. "Open those eyes, baby!"

Okay, she reasoned silently, now she knew she was hovering at the Grim Reaper's threshold. Derek Morgan was offering her endearments. If it had been Garcia lying here, she wouldn't have batted an eye at that. But, she was…well…her. Which gave her a whole new insight to how badly she must look right now. "Morgan?" she asked huskily, trying to search for his face but coming up with nothing..

She felt him take her hand and squeeze gently, "You just hang in there, Princess," he ordered before bellowing at the top of his lungs for a medic.

"S-so sorry," she slurred, trying to focus her eyes on his dark face.

"Emily, I understand, okay. I understand all of it. You did it to protect the kid. We all know it," he assured his fallen friend.

Oh, God, they knew all of it, Emily thought distantly as her body grew colder. All of it. All of it. All of it. "I had to do it," she whispered painfully, hoping that he'd understand what she meant…that he'd pass it along to those that mattered most.

"None of that matters," Derek shook his head. "The important thing is that you just hang on for us."

Hang on for them? To what? She'd done what she'd set out to do. She'd kept them safe. She'd kept Declan's secret. She was done now, wasn't she? She could rest.

Funny, she'd always been prepared to die in the line of duty. All good agents made their peace with that. They expected it. It was why she'd avoided relationships like the black plague. She'd never wanted to leave someone behind.

But damn it, she'd always assumed she'd go out in a hail of gunfire, fighting the good fight. Not sprawled on some dirty floor, her hair sticking to some gooey substance that she didn't even want to begin to think about with a fucking stake so close to her heart that she would swear if she moved an inch, splinters would pierce the beating organ.

Now that…that she was pretty pissed about.

"God, I don't want to die on a nasty, smelly floor," she moaned, unaware she'd spoken aloud until she heard Morgan's deep timbre thunder, "Nobody's dying! You hear me, Em? Nobody is fucking dying today!"

Okay, there was nothing wrong with her hearing and the angry sound of his voice jerked her eyes open again. "Not deaf," she managed to gasp.

"Nope. But dumb is a different story," he growled, his hand still wrapped around hers. Fear laced his words as he looked down at her. "Do you know how fucking terrified we've been? You should have come to us, Prentiss. You should have trusted us."

"I did," she whispered, her throat suddenly tightening as she felt the urge to gasp. "With my life. You found me."

"From your lips to God's ears," he muttered, blinking back tears as paramedics finally rushed into the warehouse. "You just stay alive, girl. We're not done with this yet."

Smiling, Emily let her eyes close again as she felt the air move around her, people moving quickly. Derek was safe. They were all safe. Or they would be. Once she was gone. Judging from the pain, that shouldn't take long. And then everyone would be out of danger. And Ian would still be clueless. No one knew Declan's location, save her. The stakes were too great otherwise.

Her secrets would go to the grave with her.

And no one would pay for her sins…for Lauren's sins or Emily's sins.

It was her last coherent thought as the black abyss surrounded her, pulling her down into its comforting arms, surrounding her completely.

Perhaps death wasn't so scary after all.

_**Finis**_


End file.
